A Corpus-based Ecofeminist Comparison of Andersen's the Ugly Duckling and Shamsie's Duckling
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study examines a corpus-based ecofeminist comparison of Andersen's The Ugly Duckling (1843) and Shamsie's Duckling (2020). The researchers have used quantitative methods of corpus linguistics along with the qualitative interpretive framework of ecofeminist theory to study how each text constructs ideological formations of nature, gender, body, and power. Using keyword list, normalized frequency analysis, concordance, and collocational analysis conducted in Python and AntConc, the study identifies significant divergences between the two texts that align with the ecofeminist theoretical tradition of Warren (2000), Plumwood (1993), and Mies and Shiva (1993). Key corpus findings include an increase in ecological vocabulary, gender identity, power/domination language in Shamsie’s text as compared to Andersen’s text with the replacement of 'ugly' in Andersen with 'wrong' in Shamsie as the dominant marker of social othering and the introduction of the identity-term 'adventurer' that are absent from Andersen's text. These findings show that Shamsie's retelling transforms Andersen’s idea of conformity into gendered resistance, collective ecological agency, and relational liberation. The study contributes to ecofeminism, corpus-assisted discourse studies, and children's literature research, showing the productivity of integrating empirical corpus tools with feminist ecological theory for narrative analysis.
Authors: Rehma Ajmal, Dr. Abdul Ghaffar, Abeera Waseem
Institution: University of Education
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225601947